Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 452, 15 December 1904, Page 7

Traveller.

ABOUT ODENSE, TO be turned adrift from a snug warm train prematurely in a town which for aught you know contains not a soul that speaks your own tongue, is not at. first sight a pleasant experience, But, for all' that, it need not prove unendurably disagreeable. Patience.and a certain assumtion of indifference work wonders. At least they did so ; in the writer's case the other day, when he was, from unforeseen circumstances, compelled to find a bed and spend a night in the capital of the Danish. island of Fyen,.which, to the annoyance of patriotic Danes, we usually call by the German name of Funen. The town was Odense. Ibis a very'important : place in Denmark, with nearly thirty thousand inhabitants. It was relatively [still more important in the past, whenjfasitsnaine implies, it was a seat of worship i of the god Odin. Odens-e is ' Odin's island '—the e being the same wont; similarly pronounced, as appears in Jersey and Rothesay. But our Danish cousins: are not nowadays mindful of Odin. Theyj&re 1 not very ardent in their devotion to religious exercises of any kind—at least, if one may judge from the aspect, of their churches' interiors on Sundays, and from enthusiastic pursuit of pleasure in 'particular on the first day of the week. . { Odense lies well in the middle of Fyen. which is itself a flat island, picturesquely studded-with woodland patche.s, windmills, and delightful old farmsteads with . long. •low .-'brows and bodies of various colours. They do hot favour hedgerows in any part of Denmark. Soon, therefore, in midWinter, when snow carpets the land to the horizon, Fyen conveys to the beholder an idea,' of i,ts immensity which is only to be dispelled by a rational faith in. the map of his guide-book. The easy pace at.which the train carries a man through Danish territory is a further fanciful enlargement of Denmark's (and Fyen's) area. lii like manner, the way in which Odense stretches j its streets like the spokes of a wheel from a i given centre far into the country on all j sides, makes cne at first believe it is a moro considerable place than it is. A little judgment, however; Corrects this idea. In the middle of the town are divers goodlyhouses of three storeys. A stone's throw away in every direction the.houses are of but one storey. If London and its suburb* were constructed after this mode, nobody # knows how many of our counties ihey would sprawl into. . Odense is locally famous for its margarine and its old churches. It has further an excellent hotel, to which one may find one's way even when ignorant of Danish. Here, to be sure, the Englishman is likely to be somewhat of a spectacle. The hotels is in the hands of divers gentlemen, who come and go in furs of various degrees of magnificence. You would suppose they were Dukes. Really," they "are honest commercial travellers, and nothing more. They fill the house with the smoke pf their cigars by day; and at night, even t'o a very late hour, they clatter about the, corridors and bang the doors and shout their cries of ' Sov vel' (Sleep weJI)V and much else, with a curious disregard for the comfort of guests whose hours are not their hours. But then they-would report that they are not used, to:-such mdividUals. This also explains the "old interest''-.they show in the stranger at the tSbleid'hote supper. To his face they sumtnon tho waiters and make inquiries about jhirn. .Is. he or is ho; not a personage learned irif margarine ? they seem to demand. Yet they are civil enough to him ; and of their free-, will press him to.take the glass of gin.with which it is here customary to begin a meal; They also pass him the slices of smoked salmon, pressed'liver, ham, tongue, and tho like, which positively confuse a man unused to them by their multifarious;allurements. Their bows before and after the iheal would more than aught else confirm the early notion of their ducal rank, did one not know that Denmark, is a land in which forms and ceremonies are mubh in vogue. It : is enough to dishearten an ordinary simple Englishman to see whao grace the cdmmon railway servants salute each other on the platforms. 'The bagmen] . of Odense are likely not to be' behind'the" railway officials in such a matter. -,/;. ! -fc There is a fat little pink-faced slot'or " castle in Odense, with some small nearly•laid gardens in front of iti The building would not, save for its style, excite much ' admiration in ' England.' Yet it was a royal rtfaid'ohce at Otfe,time,. tftfd .now con-

tains a Museum:, of "those fllfitahdother v ~ relics of which Denmark's-sfefeas been' and still is so -prolific", v ßufliplid not trouble the Museum;. Affei tip of Cop'en* ■ hagen—-than' which, none? in'! Europe is .':' bettor or • more ampkr, jiurhishedit was likely to I was "'- inoro pleased to smoke iriy teigar in the' fr palace garaens.strolling to and fro in the cold'but very bright wintry sunshine,watching the gleam of the long icicles frcaS v i the.eaves of the. adjoining houses, ' atcT>s marking the conduct of the Odense citizen ~ shared this promenade with- ' me** 1 . c 9J?ld "be more scrupulously cobSTjugal t%an«fche, w%" in which the fur-,clad men M<|th.e fur- clad. arms > of their rosycheeked wives/. The Danes',So not grow to a height as?a rule. Certainly these ladies of wore of the round older. But if .TBiey had any physical demerits, these were.W obscured in the bloom of their complexions and the frosty sparkle of ■ their ey^s,;-. They appeared made for Ida exercise. MMenso, however, v is in the middle of Fyen, nor has it au'J&fc in the natvoro of lakes around it. I had -orfe^brief.pilgrimage to make era leaving Fy|n% capital for : the west;* that was to H(j|pAnders,en's birthplace, in one -W----of the.subtirb'S. The cottage in itself was ..'-'.', not t remarkable. But it has conferred quite fame upon Odense as 1 enterprise and honesty, of all tbe tola's merchants of margarine put together,.-;-'*'' ' The sun ..Was waning fast towards tha •• J white dead4|ivel of Fyen's horizon when I" entered Jibe; train for Middlefart. With characteristic courtesy, the station-master came..,fb'r>ysrd with a l.andful of telegrams to -prove' to-, me that' I 'need, expect no trouble in crossing Beit. .';:■* he 'that you ' are going the otherb^fy:.*' ? - I really was, :; . Thad ho wish at all to Jbe. £ stuck of. the Great BeltJ a fate which''seemed.daily likely to visit one or other of; ; ''the;;ierry : boats,; which duty" sent tKem acro|s'i||jii'.sixteen mile's of sea' turned main|y|ntb4be. 'The Little Belt is but a five minute's '/channel, and by constant movement.. fo : and fro, the boats could keep thi&opan, let the winter freeze .its hardesT/. , '.;',•:' .■ *v.; For t>vo hours,.we travelled aoross the bloak little island;; The violet and t crimson of the sunset pkarnViiniagoria were good'Ao -, sco. Bui the show soon passed. A mere?*- - loss wintar'if' night, set in. You. can'-,, imagine its s.&.vvrii» \>i±en. I during the passage of the Little iieii Jhe cold froze the colter .di .my coat at the baoic iio BZy~^ — neck, an<T: welded-by means of many'., icicles—beard and moustache to the coat V collar in front, so that a very painful needed to set myself free in Jutland.'*. -The : effect of the moon and stars onthiJ'ice-iloes in:'the Sound was distinctly strong. > " ~ ■ ■ .._;; ■■